# What is this caboose fixture?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 28, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053 "2022-06-28T16:23:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/1 "2022-06-28T16:23:19Z")
I recently saw this on a caboose in a train museum. The guide didn’t know what this fixture was for.
She said that the caboose was home to the conductors, who could climb these little ladders into a loft space with big windows where they could get a good view of things and signal the engineer with flags.
Anybody recognize this thing?
[[Album] Fixture on a Caboose  ](https://imgur.com/a/wVVq8UL)
---
### Author:  [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/2 "2022-06-28T16:27:11Z")
Search “caboose flags” and you’ll find pictures of that fixture storing the signal flags.
> **[Old Railroad Signal Flags In Caboose Art Print by Gary Slawsky | Signal...](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/772226667336078929/)**
>
> Apr 9, 2019 - Purchase an art print of the photograph "Old Railroad Signal Flags In Caboose" by Gary Slawsky. Choose from multiple sizes and hundreds of frame and mat options. All prints are professionally printed, packaged, and shipped within 3 -...
---
### Author:  [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/3 "2022-06-28T16:44:24Z")
Nicely done, answered in one. I did speculate that it might be for the flags, but I wasn’t sure.
I see now that it’s supposed to have two rows of holes, but the front half of the unit is broken off and then painted over obscuring the fact that it was incomplete.
---
### Author:  [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2022, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/4 "2022-06-29T01:17:23Z")
The colored flags all had meanings, lamps would be used at night. For more reading:
[https://tinyurl.com/2ac9t4n9](https://tinyurl.com/2ac9t4n9)
---
### Author:  [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2022, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/5 "2022-06-29T12:42:10Z")
I would have guessed buggy whip holders, like the early cars.
---
### Author:  [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/6 "2022-06-29T17:35:05Z")
I guess they must still be in use, since those are apparently modern flags with modern meanings. None of those messages really seems like something a conductor would signal the engineer from the rear end of a train though.
---
### Author:  [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/7 "2022-06-29T21:38:48Z")
In Canada, despite pressure from rial unions, the caboose has disappeared. IIRC it’s been replaces by an electronic box of the last car that can monitor the train and perform tasks like activating the brakes, sperate from the front controls, should that be needed.
---
### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/8 "2022-06-30T00:22:10Z")
> [@tofor](#):
>
> None of those messages really seems like something a conductor would signal the engineer from the rear end of a train though.
Perhaps, [but they all seem appropriate for one train signaling to a train approaching from behind.](https://www.idescosafety.com/multi-colored-railroad-safety-flags.htm#:~:text=Specifications%20%26%20Sizes&text=The%20red%20flag%20indicates%20that,or%20coupled%20to%20another%20train.)
---
### Author:  [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2022, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/9 "2022-06-30T10:58:54Z")
That makes sense.
---
### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2022, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/10 "2022-06-30T12:35:14Z")
> [@md-2000](#):
>
> In Canada, despite pressure from rial unions, the caboose has disappeared. IIRC it’s been replaces by an electronic box of the last car that can monitor the train and perform tasks like activating the brakes, sperate from the front controls, should that be needed.
> **[End-of-train device](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-of-train_device)**
>
> The end of train device (ETD), sometimes referred to as an EOT, flashing rear-end device (FRED) or sense and braking unit (SBU) is an electronic device mounted on the end of freight trains in replacement of a caboose. They are divided into three categories: "dumb" units, which only provide a visible indication of the rear of the train with a flashing red taillight; "average intelligence" units with a brake pipe pressure gauge; and "smart" units, which send back data to the crew in the locomotive ...
---
### Author:  [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/11 "2022-07-10T19:51:00Z")
> [@md-2000](#):
>
> I would have guessed buggy whip holders, like the early cars.
I’m trying to work out how the driver of either a train or an early car would need a way to influence a horse.
---
### Author:  [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2022, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/12 "2022-07-11T02:32:52Z")
> **[Horse-drawn caboose](https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/horse-drawn-caboose/)**
>
> Your Museum. Your Stories.
It’s Canada!
---
### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2022, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-caboose-fixture/967053/13 "2022-07-13T13:46:29Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#):
>
> > [@md-2000](#):
> >
> > I would have guessed buggy whip holders, like the early cars.
>
> I’m trying to work out how the driver of either a train or an early car would need a way to influence a horse.
Before steam locomotives, rail carts were pulled by animals.
> **[Timeline of railway history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_railway_history)**